Two cheese-loving Oregonians (via Wisconsin) find their path to parenthood through adoption. Their sons, born in South Korea, add the kimchi spice to their lives, and they are now a family of four!

8.17.2012

Friday Flotsam: 8.17.2012

We walk through the State fairgrounds, Little Man pointing and shouting ecstatically. His joy and excitement is uncontainable as we enter the chicken and rabbit barn. "Bunny" he squeals, diving out of my arms to get face to face with the lop-eared rabbit hunkering inside his cage.

As we pass each animal he says the words for them followed with their animal sounds. I didn't realize he knew so many of them.

Chicken. Bok bok. Rooster. Doodle-ooo. Goat. Baaaaa.

We move on to the other livestock barns and the reaction is the same with a few variances.

He presses his face against the llama's stall and cries when we move on.

When we see the pigs, he wrinkles his nose and says "yuck".

When we see the horses, he holds onto Daddy's neck and is in quiet awe. He reaches out to pet a friendly horse and we had a hard time pulling him away.

But it was when we passed through the cow barn that I felt the rush of a motherhood moment.

"Cow. Big cow," he says. Followed by a low "moooo". I held him and pointed out the different types of cows, remembering back to when I was little and my grandfather taught me the breeds. For years I used to show my grandparents' cows at the fair, spending summers at their home and learning how to walk, show and care for the animals. I loved those cows, but I equally loved getting to spend time with my grandparents. Those are some of the sweetest times of my childhood and sharing the things I learned from that time with my son was really touching.

It was then that I had one of those parenting moments, when the wonder of being a parent becomes fully obvious. As the hay dust floated in the air and the cow's tails swished back and forth, I had such a moment of awe and awareness about what it means to be a mom.

I had the realization that family is really an endless loop that each successive generation joins into. Generations past and present are united through the sharing of familial rituals and stories and passing of knowledge. It wasn't something I consciously thought at the time, but I keep thinking back to that moment, turning it over in my mind like a pretty seashell and admiring it from different perspectives.

A squirm and a shout brought me out of the reverie and rooted me right back into the present. Leave it to Little Man to remind me not to take life (and parenting) too seriously. He lifted his arm and pointed, screaming at the top of his lungs....

About Us

This blog started out as a way to connect with our family and share our adoption process with them. But the unexpected surprise is that we've found support and kindness from others who have, or are currently, going through the same experience.
We believe in positive parenting, eating well, living a healthy lifestyle, doing good things for others, great books, finding inspiration, living an authentic and honest life, and the pursuit of happiness.
And we also believe in learning new things everyday, which is where you come in! Please comment, or you can email us as curdsandkimchi (at) yahoo (dot) com.